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ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES

EMPOWERING CABIN CREW USING INTERACTIVE TOUCH TECHNOLOGY

Royal Dutch Airlines, better known as KLM, is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. With a home hub at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, KLM operates scheduled passenger and cargo services to more than 90 destinations worldwide.

The Challenge

KLM enjoys a long heritage in the world of aviation but is at the forefront of pioneering new developments. Embracing new technology, the company seeks ways to improve communication whilst reducing its burden on the environment and recently embarked on a trial to utilise digital technology to enhance pre-flight instruction efficiency.

The NEC Solution

With a number of dedicated briefing rooms at Schiphol Airport, pre-flight cabin crew briefing meetings comprised paper cards and video material. KLM chose Merit Media, one of the leading digital signage companies in the Netherlands, to implement a more efficient method of communicating with and training staff using information which can be easily updated. For the trial, Merit Media developed a narrowcasting system aptly named “Touch & Watch” enabling the flight Purser to brief his or her crew with safety, hospitality and destination information using interactive touch screen technology. The touchscreens allow simple navigation of a menu indicating each available presentation using colour coding. The content is produced by KLM’s in-house production company which is then processed and uploaded by Merit Media, who continuously monitor the system 24/7 ensuring any failures are promptly dealt with.

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Impressed by the build quality and reliability of the NEC brand, Merit Media chose the NEC Multisync V423-TM professional touchscreen to fulfill the deployment of its Touch & Watch system. “The fully integrated touch-layer is highly accurate with a fast response-time and offers a rugged hardware solution, eliminating the use of inferior add-on touch kits as used by other manufacturers,” says Marc Sytsema of Merit Media. “The OPS slot offers the possibility to slide in an OPS media player in the back of the screen, eliminating the need for a stand-alone player, its power supply and interconnecting wires making a very neat solution. The NEC displays are built for longevity and its LED technology keeps power consumption to a minimum.”

The OPS (Open Pluggable Specification) media player embedded into the touchscreen is connected via the internet to the  erver, providing content updates and allowing continuous monitoring of the status and health of the system.

KLMDetail1

The Result

Following a successful trial period the system was rolled out across all nineteen briefing rooms. All cabin crews flying European and intercontinental flights are now preparing their flights using the Touch & Watch screens, resulting in an average of 100 viewings per day. KLM’s pursers can also utilise a dedicated iPad app to preview the Touch & Watch system in preparation for chairing his or her next briefing. Merit Media provides monthly usage statistics, showing exact viewing numbers for each presentation.

“We chose to work with NEC on this prestigious project because their V423-TM offers the high quality required for this customer and because NEC delivers a competitive and highly professional portfolio and excellent support,” says Marc Sytsema.

The NEC touch screens, together with dedicated hardware, software and content from Merit Media, have allowed KLM to achieve their goal of briefing their cabin crews in a modern, digital way; be environmentally friendly and improve their preflight instruction efficiency.

“The Touch & Watch system from Merit Media is very easy to use for pursers during their preflight routine. The in-house production team no longer has to distribute DVD’s, but are assured that their high quality content is displayed in the right fashion and possible operational issues are promptly solved by Merit Media” says Serge de Groot - KLM Inflight Services, video producer/ purser.